"I have never let schooling interfere with my education"- Mark Twain
Did you by any chance produce colored brochures for colleges to entice freshmen to attend and their parents to pay the bill?
The claim that college fosters an open mind is bullshit and just not true. At one time perhaps, but currently? No way.
The college route offers a very limited view of the world. Here's my experience: 4.5 years to get a degree in Range Management (grazing, soils, forage plants, animal husbandry). Right out of college got a job with the Forest Service in Nevada as a range rider and wild horse tech and occasional fence builder. What a life! Wasn't just a job or a lifestyle- it shaped me. 14 hrs/da in the saddle (got paid for 8, but I didn't care), 10 days on 4 off, on my own just me and the horse (or mule as the case may be- the source of my title in these comments). Did that for several years before going back into wildland fire where I made my career. And that career, being seasonal and all, allowed me to see the world. No college needed.
Only needed that degree to get that initial job, since then never really used it though I will admit to still having an interest in range. So there is that.
But, any given day on horseback or on the fireline grants me more adventure, excitement and learning than 4 yrs total of college ever thought of doing. In just one day! Get the perspective? It's out of all proportion.
Riches? Not from working, no. No debt either.
Think abut this: I could send my kid to school for language study. He takes 1 hr/day 3 days/week. At the end of 3 years he does ok. But put him in Peru- their Spanish is clear and beautiful- do a home stay and individual studies and he'll come out in 4 months speaking like a native, with incredible personal experiences. Conversely, what does he do in college after class- go drink beer or paint his face and go to a lousy football game? You're way over rating the college experience IMO.
"I have never let schooling interfere with my education"- Mark Twain
Did you by any chance produce colored brochures for colleges to entice freshmen to attend and their parents to pay the bill?
The claim that college fosters an open mind is bullshit and just not true. At one time perhaps, but currently? No way.
The college route offers a very limited view of the world. Here's my experience: 4.5 years to get a degree in Range Management (grazing, soils, forage plants, animal husbandry). Right out of college got a job with the Forest Service in Nevada as a range rider and wild horse tech and occasional fence builder. What a life! Wasn't just a job or a lifestyle- it shaped me. 14 hrs/da in the saddle (got paid for 8, but I didn't care), 10 days on 4 off, on my own just me and the horse (or mule as the case may be- the source of my title in these comments). Did that for several years before going back into wildland fire where I made my career. And that career, being seasonal and all, allowed me to see the world. No college needed.
Only needed that degree to get that initial job, since then never really used it though I will admit to still having an interest in range. So there is that.
But, any given day on horseback or on the fireline grants me more adventure, excitement and learning than 4 yrs total of college ever thought of doing. In just one day! Get the perspective? It's out of all proportion.
Riches? Not from working, no. No debt either.
Think abut this: I could send my kid to school for language study. He takes 1 hr/day 3 days/week. At the end of 3 years he does ok. But put him in Peru- their Spanish is clear and beautiful- do a home stay and individual studies and he'll come out in 4 months speaking like a native, with incredible personal experiences. Conversely, what does he do in college after class- go drink beer or paint his face and go to a lousy football game? You're way over rating the college experience IMO.